Limit Reached

Well, I think I've finally reached my threshold. My financially drained, bargain basement limit. It was last week that did me in. Prior to last week, I was in dog walker heaven. The beautiful golden days of autumn were mine for the taking. Taking dogs for a walk through the parks, that is. It was brisk enough to warrant a fleece vest, but nothing more. The rich marigold and orange-rust leaves crisp under our feet, we scooted along happily wagging our tails. It was delightful. And after the walks, a visit to Joe Bar, my favorite coffee shop slash gallery was always a treat. Oh yes, life was good.

And then last week happened. The rain. The wind. The hail. The heavy traffic due to said rain, wind and hail. The dogs weren't happy. I wasn't happy. We walked...we got wet. But even that wasn't the most annoying. Getting from one neighborhood to the next in this town without a car is tricky enough on a good weather day. Toss in some inclimate weather, nasty traffic, an accident or two, some power outages, and it's a royal nightmare. I made it through Monday and Tuesday with little incident. We even to managed to get a reprieve from the heaviest rains during the walks. Not bad actually. Some wet paws, but nothing that couldn't be handled by a mere toweling at the door.

It was Wednesday my downward spiral began. I had three whole things to do that day. Just three. In three different neighborhoods; Yoga in Lower Queen Ann, a dog walk on Capitol Hill, and a meeting at the language school on Lake Union. These three little things on my calendar took me an entire day to achieve due to bad weather, heavy traffic, late and missed buses! While walking from my apartment to my first bus I got drenched up to my knees (three blocks). Due to heavy traffic on Denny, the bus was late. I got off at Westlake only to see my connecting bus whizzing past me spraying water so high I looked like I had gotten caught in a tidal wave by the time I got to my appointment, fifteen minutes late.

Crabby, damp and disgruntled by the time I got home at 8 pm (for a total earnings of $12.00), I was looking forward to my next pet/house sitting gig in Ballard that provided me with a vehicle. Well, Thursday the winds kicked up, power outages ensued, and once again, traffic was stalled. It took over a half hour to drive one mile from one dog walking gig to the next. I wanted to pull over somewhere, park the car and walk, but I was stuck. No where to pull over to. Again, it took me the good part of a day just to walk three sets of dogs. Only one got caught in the rain, and one in 30 mph winds. They didn't seem too bothered...and I tried to keep my chin up ... and head down as I plowed through the weather.

Friday brought heavy rains which turned into a hail storm. I had an 11.00 interview in Ballard (Yes, an interview. Time to find an actual job I'm afraid), and my next dog walking appointment was 2.00 p.m. I left the interview at 1.00 p.m., sat in traffic for twenty minutes at the Ballard Bridge. Finally, a police car came and closed off the entrance. I turned the car out of line and headed toward Capitol Hill via Fremont and University Bridge. An exhausting hour later I arrived at the Capitol Hill house. Walked the dogs in soggy weather, left to head back to Ballard for my last walk of the day. On the way, it pours buckets! I wait for it to let up a bit before getting my last dog leashed up. But he's impatient. He's ready to walk!

Taking a deep breath, I realize this traipsing across town for a few bucks here and there just isn't going to help my financial cause. Not knowing how I'm ever going to pay my rent in two weeks, I met with the interviewer a second time. We discussed salary. It's not great, but the job sounds interesting with a little better potential than dog walking. So I shook his hand, hung up my leashes and I begin my new job on Monday.